On October 12, 2017, during the opening session of the International Association of Lighting Designers (IALD) Enlighten Americas conference in Denver, Japanese lighting designer Reiko Chikada was presented into the IALD College of Fellows. This award of distinction is given to those members of the IALD “for [their] valuable contribution to the art and science of lighting design, and for their continued service to the IALD.” Fellows must be a professional member of the IALD and have a minimum of ten years of experience.
Chikada, who established her own firm, Reiko Chikada Lighting Design in Tokyo in 1986, has been practicing lighting design for more than 40 years. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts at Tokyo University of the Arts, and began her professional career at Motoko Ishii Lighting Design in Tokyo. In 1986, she established Reiko Chikada Lighting Design and has been a professional IALD member since 1999.
Since 1999, Chikada has been a professional IALD member. She has served on the IALD Membership Committee for three years, and on the IALD Board of Directors for two years; her term ends this year.
A founding member of IALD Japan, Chikada has contributed to the region’s many milestones, including the planning and hosting of IALD Enlighten Asia in 2013, 2015, and 2017. At present, she is the vice representative of IALD Japan and is “…actively working to make the region an incorporated association.”
Chikada’s portfolio of work includes the Tokyo Metropolitan Theater, the Kanazawa Castle Park, and the Four Seasons Hotel Tokyo at Chinzanso. She has received numerous lighting awards for her work such as the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) Paul Waterbury Award of Excellence, the IES Edwin F. Guth Memorial Award of Excellence, the IALD Award of Merit, an IALD Special Citation, and third prize in the 2011 LUCI City People Light Award.
